from the first local station with news in high definition this is 9 news now. welcome to 9 news now at noon. i'm j.c. hayward. we had high winds earlier today and right now we are facing a round of thunderstorms. meteorologist devon lucie is in our 9 news now weather center and he has our forecast first. >> yeah, we are looking at the possibility of a last round of thunderstorms to be moving through.

we still have a cold front that is hanging out west of here. go to live doppler nine thousand. a couple of thunderstorms have developed north of the district toward baltimore. i'm looking at temperatures, too. the latest coming from reagan national are up to 65 with sunshine that has popped out. i will take the temperatures off for you here and put this in motion. you see the thunderstorms north in to montgomery county and columbia and baltimore, well, those storms continue to push to the north and east. as a cold front is lingering to the west and if that is yet to come through we could see a chance of thunderstorms here in washington before the day is through. temperatures in he mid-60s and the sunshine right now we could be pushing 70-degrees in the next couple of hours while the rest of the outlook is coming up in a while. >> thank you, devon. the wind is causing problems for utility customer and crews. right now pepco is reporting 1700 customers are affected. northern virginia has nearly

2500 customers without power. our digital correspondent kristin fisher reports from northern virginia on how customers and crews are dealing with it. >> we have seen wind gusts up to 50 miles an hour here in falls church this morning and one of those gusts took down this massive tree. check this out. you can see the tree was completely uprooted and then it fell down around 6:00 a.m. this morning taking down these power lines and then it came crashing down across the street, narrowly missing these two homes. >> we heard a thump on the roof and i thought it was a branch hitting the roof, because they hit all the time and the electricity went out and i went back to sleep until my partner got up and went to work and she said, oh, there's a branch down and i said no, that's a tree. >> we are lucky it didn't hit anyone, a car or house. look at the angle. it couldn't have fallen in a better direction. >> reporter: crews are now on the scene trying to clear up

the tree and the roadways but many homes are without power this morning. 9 news now and wusa9.com. help could be on the way for america's middle class because today the president is announcing a new series of initiatives to help struggling middle-class families. joel brown has more from captiol hill. president obama is laying out new plans. he says they are designed to ease the economic worries of struggling middle-class families. the white house will double the child care tax credit for families making less than $85,000 a year. the government will spend $1.6 billion on child care programs, cap student loan payments and increase aid to families taking care of elderly relatives. the president will go in to detail on wednesday during his state of the union address. his top advisers say he is working on the speech but it will center around thee three

themes, helping the middle cal class, shrinking the deficit and creating jobs. congressional democrats are aware that many voters are angry and they welcome the news. >> i think more than anything the voters said get business any washington and do something about the economy. >> reporter: the obama administration has put a bigger spotlight on jobs and the economy. in the wake of the big defeat in massachusetts. voters sent a republican to washington. that means democrats now need at least one gop vote in the senate. both parties will have to find more common ground and democrats will have to be willing to bargain on major items in president obama's agenda. >> it is not the public wants more politics but less mix and more working together. >> reporter: both sides say they want to work together, but with elections looming in the fall, the jury is out on whether they will make any real progress. joel brown, cbs news, the white house. we are following a developing story from beirut lebanon. an ethiopian airlines jet

crashed in the sea after takeoff. 90 people were on board. so far 34 bodies have been pulled from the wreckage. no survivors have been found. investigators do not believe the crash was the result of terrorism. now to the latest information from haiti. officials from around the world will meet today in montreal. they will discuss how to speed up the relief efforts to the island nation. the haitian government now says that this 18 -- at least 150,000 people have been buried since the earthquake and there are thousands more who have not been counted. relief supplies are trickling in. even the united nations world food program admits that more needs to be done to distribute food and water. doctors treating the injured are hopeful they can get help for those in need. >> in two weeks ' time we are here now. we have been changing the situation and now we are coming in to the third phase and things get more stabilize and

we are -- more buildup can be done. >> despite the signs of disaster, every day we seem to get images like this. a man pulled out alive from the rubble of a store over the weekend. 11 days after that earthquake. and doctors say he is doing well. >> one of the realities of the aftermath of the earthquake in haiti is a massive number of amputations. doctors estimate the need for prosthesis will reach new levels. several companies, such as infinite technology in arlington, virginia, are planning to assist in the country's recovery. the company's doctors and specialists are combining the latest scientific advancements and a lot of sensitivity to make each artificial limb unique. >> from age and severity of what their health issue is to

componentry you would suggest to them and what their lifestyle is and what they are going to face makes a package that you have to design with the patient. >> reporter: infinite technology uses a silicone liner and digital scans when they design their prosthetics. they say it makes each one more comfortable for the patient. funeral services for the victims of a shooting rampage in appomattox, virginia began over the weekend. yesterday morgan lee dobbins was laid to rest. the accused gunman, 39-year-old cristopher speight is her uncle. to be bins was killed last tuesday along with her mother, step father and 4-year-old brother. 15-year-old emily quarrels, her parents johnathon and karen quarrels and 16-year-old ronnie scrogs were also killed.

three men are charged with killing a marine at a house party in baltimore. the victim was 2 a-year-old darius ray. early on sunday, police arrested 26-year-old michael wiggins, 22-year-old vernon had did and 27-year-old nicky woodward. all will be charged with first- degree murder. the kind of people that go in to a party with a violent weapon with an ben to kill a party we just don't need those people around and we have to start to hold these people accountable. >> reporter: another man was injured in that stabbing. private first class ray was stationed here in washington. he grew up in foster homes in montgomery county. a group of parents and students in fairfax county actually want to help and are going to get help from lawmakers. they rallied at churchill road elementary school last night in mclean. the activists want lawmakers to unfreeze the local composite index.

a former governor tim kaine froze the lci to help small counties get think the crisis but the index was frozen before the housing prices sent property values tumbling. >> your efforts to try to get the $61 million from the state would make a profound difference if we can get that to come through. >> reporter: supporters of unfreezing the lci say the money fairfax county would recoupe could make up 70% of the budget gap and avoid further cuts and increases in class sizes. organizers are circulating petitions and launching e-mail campaigns targeting local lawmakers, all the way up to the new governor bob mcdonnell. coming up next, he might have the backing of the president, but the chairman of the federal reserve is facing tough scrutiny from lawmakers. plus, we'll check on the first haitian earthquake survivors brought aboard the usns comfort for treatment. we'll be right back.

we have breaking news from southwest washington. the dc fire department and ems crews are on the scene of a building collapse. it is an auto parts store located at 3920 south capitol street southwest. the people inside the building have been evacuated. a 9 news now crew is on the way to the scene, and we will have more information for you when it becomes available. there's a list of senators

who do not think that ben bernanke should get another term as federal reserve chairman. there are only six days left in his term. the senate is scrambling to schedule a vote by the weekend. still, other senators say there is enough bipartisan support for a second term. he is credited for stopping the recession from turning in to a depression but his support of wall street bailouts has stirred public anger. the fed is expected to hold interest rates steady at a policy meeting they are holding this week as the economy slowly recovers. a new survey suggests businesses will start to hire and increase capital spending in the first half of the year. the majority of economists surveyed also think the economy will expand by more than 2% this year. devon lucie is up next with the forecast. yeah, with the sunshine that's popped out and some clearing skies over the nation's capital, it is down

right warm, but with all of this and a cold front still to come through we could have a chance of thunderstorms. i'll tell you about that when our forecast coming up.

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aid while the maryland-based hospital ship usns comfort reports that it now is housing nearly 400 patients on board. many of the patients are children. scott broom reports now on some of the first youngsters air lifted to this floating military hospital [ crying ] >> reporter: this is where the injured come to heal or die, under tarps and trees. >> i'm scott broom in port-au- prince haiti. i was there on thursday, doctors telling me the arrival of the usns comfort gave a select few a second chance. >> admitted immediately. >> reporter: here under a tent i met edlund. her leg was shattered. the compound fracture covered by only a piece of gauze for eight days. in the shocking battlefield conditions here, surgeons simply couldn't fix it. and this was her ticket out.

she was loaded on a navy medevac alone, no family. others watched in desperation. two days later, i searched the pediatric ward [ crying ] children some in terrible pain and some simply in terror without parents, but in the calmest corner there was a girl with a giant cast, hugging a stuffed dolphin. it was edlund. the smile tells you how things are going. >> she said she wants to do medicine and work as a pediatric. >> reporter: also recovering here is debrazil. he was the first child brought aboard with a crushed pelvis and failing organs in a risky night flight while the comfort was still at sea. he is the one who tenderly clung to the bethesda doctor's hand. >> he is doing well. >> he's been perky this

morning. i was teaching him elmo songs because he has an elmo book so i was teaching him the song elmo sings. >> the navy found his uncle and flew him to the ship. >> there is no communication. >> reporter: this is the reason the comfort is here, there are lives saved. a young corpsman, creole speaking daniel joseph hustles from bed to bed. >> they haven't seen their moms and dads since they got on the helicopter and they have been here for two or three days and that's a lot of pain for them. it affects me in a lot of ways. >> and everywhere there are stuffed animals and toys hastily donated by kids at stone ridge school. >> how are the stuffed animals? >> they are a huge hit. >> reporter: back in port-au- prince, no one pretends that all who need the ship will make it there. there is too much chaos, too little communication and too

much need. even a fleet of navy helicopters and a thousand bed ship, staffed 24/7 with walter reed's best can only do so much in a shattered nation that needs so much more but the pediatric group shows they are doing its best. 9 news now and wusa9.com. >> if you would like to help the residents and the patients in haiti just go to our website at wusa9.com. you'll find a list of organizations and that you can contribute and help in some small way. actually it will be a big way because they need every dime they can get. >> certainly do. >> actually, devon lucie is here today. are we having a heat wave or what? >> this is definite heat wave for january. when you consider we are coming out of the coldest time of the year, at least meet logically speaking here in washington. we just got out of the coldest average temperatures and now looking at temperatures in the mid to upper 60s in some cases.

i revised the forecast first. look at the high, i brought up to 67 for the high temperature, considering we jumped to 65 at reagan national and that's with the sunshine that just came out. combine that with winds before the front comes through. still a breezy day but it will be drastically different the next two days as we go tuesday in to wednesday. step to the other side of the screen and show you washington across from the netherlands carillon. 65 is our current reading. southwest winds 80 miles an hour. we have a wind advisory until 1:00. another half hour. we still have a flash flood watch until 1:00. those are effectively over so i'm not covering it here. you see it is on here, flash watch until 1:00. temperatures are more upper 60s and could be near 70 in some cases. big difference tonight. cold front and temperatures in the 30s. only the 40s for highs

tomorrow, even with a good dose of sunshine among the clouds. here's the current readings across the beltway. 65 reagan national. i don't doubt some of us could be hitting up to 60 or 70 before the day is out and the front is through. annapolis is holding a little cooler on the bay. dulles is 65. there you see 50s in the higher elevations as you head to the blue ridge and appalachians. that's where the cold front is. go to live doppler nine thousand. i want to show you what has gone on here. we had a head of the cold front develop, a little in the way of a possible thunderstorm going on. now toward baltimore. we will give you a look where that is going on and a secondary round of showers and a possible storm going on in mount teary to damascus and gaithersburg. these storms are moving 25 to 30 miles an hour. there's the closer view. this is north. we will in the montgomery and carroll counties now as we go in to maryland. but we have this cold front yet to come through. we will go to the forecast

track. we could have a chance of thunderstorms to come in. there's the front right now 12:30 it is yet to come through washington when that front is coming through, a chance of showers and maybe a thunderstorm rolling through. what we will notice after the front comes through is much colder air coming in. i hope you have a coat andy, once the front comes through you will need it tonight, especially on the drive home. tomorrow afternoon it is only going to be 40s for highs. right in to that seven-day forecast. 42 tomorrow, 40 on wednesday. and there might be a chance of a flake coming in, there's a storm system on friday in to saturday. so continue to watch and monitor that storm. that's a look at the forecast. we will be back with the rest of the news at noon. cycycyc1c9cycócococ/cc/

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say, i'm a decision maker. can i make decisions easily? do i make good decision and ask your friends or a trusted mentor whether in fact that is what you are good at it. if you are not good at it you can find someone else who is good at that sort of thing and find out if you are ready for plan b. if one particular business model doesn't work for you? are you okay with changing up. are you so wedded to the idea. >> be flexible. >> extremely flexibility. >> if you have a business plan it changes as the business develops. okay, i can't go down this path but i can go down this one. >> we can learn from entrepreneurs even if we don't want to go in to business for yourself because they have so much information on being successful and patient and a long view in terms of starting our businesses. very exciting. >> good to have legal advice. >> yes. >> and a good accountant so you can pay those taxes on time. >> and check with score.org.

they have great information. >> sba. there is information for you. thanks for joining us. come back at 5:00. bye-bye.